Your favorite WWII Aircraft

[Stealhead]

Some recent threads related to aircraft and military equipment got me thinking about this...What is your favorite WWII era aircraft(specific model or series) and why?

My favorite would be the FW-190 family.(and it is very difficult for me to choose one favorite)

I have always been fascinated by the FW-190 line myself mainly because it was such a versatile design it took on many roles very effectively and was also very popular with most pilots who flew them.(not so with every aircraft design) I also just happen to like the way they look.

Another aspect that the FW-190 introduced was its ease of maintenance/construction it was designed to be easily produced in components(a great benefit to Germany late war) and the designers put much thought into making the 190 easy to keep flying the wing(port and starboard) for example was one complete unit so if damage to the wings occurred the entire wing section was simply removed and replaced with a new one the damaged one if possible was repaired if possible.

The radial BMW 801's used in the A,F,and G series 190s was a respectable engine(it did have its teething troubles early on)later war A-8's could reach 400mph depending on how they where set up.Some people mistakenly think that the BMW 801 was an 18 cylinder it was actually a 14 cylinder engine.

Even towards the end of the war the "Dora" with the Jumo 213A1 inverted V-12 pushing out 1,600HP @ 18,000ft was a force to reckoned with and was more than a match for any allied fighter.Adolf Galland wanted RLM to procure only Doras as the only prop powered fighter after he flew one.

Last of the breed the insane Ta152H its Jumo 213E could produce 1700HP at 41,000ft with Nitrous oxide boost t that rate its top speed was 472mph the fastest piston powered aircraft to ever see combat during WWII.

For those who have wondered why some German WWII aircraft have the exhaust so low on the fuselage it is because the engine is an inverted "V" and the exhaust ports are naturally near the bottom of the engine unlike a standard "V" type where the ports are near the top of the engine.

I assume many of you know the aircraft I speak of for those who do not here are some profiles(not to scale)

Fw190A8(could be an A6)


Fw190D9


Ta152H

[CaptainMattJ.]

No competition, the P51D Mustang

Ive been enfatuated with it since i was about 11. Beautiful aircraft. very powerful too. Many of my profile names on multiple sites are actually XP51MustangX or some variation of that. Aside from that i love B-29s, SBD Dauntless, F6F Hellcats, Me-262s, F4U Corsairs.

And more importantly, the C-47. My grandfather was a flight engineer aboard a C-47, and i like to think about how im here because the aircraft was so good to him, and indirectly good to my father and then to me. Had it been a lousy aircraft i might not be here, and even worse he dodged reassignment to the 8th by the skin of his teeth. I'm very fortunate he didn't, he had a very good chance of never making it out of there.

[MH]

p 38 lightning

[Stealhead]

I guess you guys are not gear heads like I am I was hoping to hear a little bit about your love for the technical bits you know like guys talking about their hot rods.

for example on the P-38 above did you know that the counter balance on the tail actually did not have any effect? It was thought to help with the loss of control during high speed dives.Kelly Johnson(I hope you know who that is) felt that it was a waste of time and that the issue was caused by vortexing something that was only theory at the time(he was correct) How about the fact that the Allison engines made for the P-38 where specific port and starboard?

Treat it like a question on a job interview for a job where you are the host of a TV show about WWII aircraft. short answers wont get you hired.

Mosquito

[Cybermat47]

Messerschmitt Bf-110 C-4




This one is a particular favourite of mine. M8+EP was part of II/ZG76, the 'Haifisch (shark) Gruppe'. I made a model of M8+EP, in fact. Beautiful aircraft. Deadly as well, considering the four 20-mm cannons in the nose. And it's powerplant, was of course, the DB-601.

[antikristuseke]

Bf-109 E-4
While later 109's performed better, that is the best looking warplane of WW II

[Cybermat47]

Originally Posted by antikristuseke

Bf-109 E-4
While later 109's performed better, that is the best looking warplane of WW II

Amen!

[HunterICX]

Hawker Tempest Mk.V



A fighter with an excellent low/medium altitude performance making it a excellent choice for the RAF to do armed recon sorties also it helped a lot in intercepting V-1 bombs and catching up with Me-262 when they landed at their base Rheine-Hopsten.

Also the versatility is what me like the aircraft very much.
it could be used as a fighter, reconnaissance and act as a fighter bomber.

It's a pity like with the Hawker Typhoon that none are still around in flyable condition. Would have loved to hear the purr of the Napier Sabre engine

HunterICX

Not exactly my favorite favorite, but I have to love the Vought XF5U



Other then that, probably the Stuka.

[Reece]

B17

[AVGWarhawk]

P-40 Wahawk. Just a beautiful plane. To me, a unsung hero of WWII.

[MH]

Originally Posted by Stealhead

I guess you guys are not gear heads like I am I was hoping to hear a little bit about your love for the technical bits you know like guys talking about their hot rods.

for example on the P-38 above did you know that the counter balance on the tail actually did not have any effect? It was thought to help with the loss of control during high speed dives.Kelly Johnson(I hope you know who that is) felt that it was a waste of time and that the issue was caused by vortexing something that was only theory at the time(he was correct) How about the fact that the Allison engines made for the P-38 where specific port and starboard?

Treat it like a question on a job interview for a job where you are the host of a TV show about WWII aircraft. short answers wont get you hired.

I:have like 1000 pictures of this plane lots of books and it looks great inside out...hehe
Since I can't bulid real life model of it at the time I'm working on 3d model that includes internal structure...call me nut that lost some bolt.
Kelly Johanson....hmmmm

[donna52522]

BF 109F and G's

The aircraft got better, but Germany started running out of trained pilots. The ****e-Wulf 190's series may have been the best they had at the end of the war, but their fate was sealed.... I still love the Me-109 for it's sleek look.

[HundertzehnGustav]

singles = Typhoon. fairly fast but not up high. Hands out some proper Damage for 1942/43 and with a dozen rockets and two 1000lbs it does well what i like doing: dump some firepower on enemy troops in tanks, ditches and Trucks. shreds 190s apart when straffing an Airfield. Sends Flakcrews running for their lives.

Twins is split between the Mitchell and the 110G